- AI: The Next Breakthrough in Documentation for Rheumatology (Nov. 17, 10:30–11:30 a.m. EST)
- Successful Onboarding and Integration of Advanced Practice Providers into Your Clinic (Nov. 17, 3–4 p.m. EST)
Two sessions on Saturday, Nov. 16, will help attendees learn strategies to handle payer challenges and and other workflow issues. Also, be sure to check the networking lounge program for opportunities to talk with peers and ACR staff about topics including work-life balance, handling practice challenges and more.
Ambient Listening
As part of the session AI: The Next Breakthrough in Documentation for Rheumatology, Michael A. Pfeffer, MD, FACP, will describe ambient listening and how to use it in a rheumatology practice. Ambient listening involves the use of AI to listen to a patient encounter and create a clinical note from it.
Dr. Pfeffer
“AI-enabled ambient documentation enables clinicians to focus on the patient while reducing their documentation burden,” says Dr. Pfeffer, senior vice president, chief information and digital officer and associate dean, Technology and Digital Solutions; and clinical professor of medicine at Stanford Health Care School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif.
Dr. Pfeffer will share his experience piloting and deploying this technology with clinicians at Stanford Health Care.
“I hope attendees will learn about the benefits and opportunities related to AI-enabled ambient documentation, as well as learn about the potential of AI in healthcare,” he says.
Dr. Pfeffer encourages potential attendees of his session to get started now by trying a generative AI app for ambient listening to see how it might help them.
Adding APPs to a Practice
Adding APPs to a practice is another hot topic in rheumatology as the specialty faces physician shortages.
Dr. Soloman
In the session Successful Onboarding and Integration of Advanced Practice Providers into Your Clinic, Nehad Soloman, MD, of Arizona Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates in Glendale, will focus on the proper and efficient use of an APP and how they add time and revenue to a practice.
“There is a dire workforce shortage in rheumatology, and this will continue for the next 10 to 15 years as there are more rheumatologists retiring than there are graduating,” Dr. Soloman says. “There is a push now to expand programs and create new ones to train more rheumatologists. However, this will take at least 15 years to play catch-up. With the rising aging population, we need to meet the demand. APPs are a quick way to do so.”
His practice currently uses a ratio of one physician to two APPs, which has allowed them to keep their wait times for new patient evaluations to about two to four weeks. They also can do same-day urgent appointments.
Dr. Melton
Gwenesta Melton, MD, vice president of the Association of Women in Rheumatology, always had an APP throughout 20 years in a private practice and praises what APPs can offer a practice. Dr. Melton will address the topic during her presentation, How to Onboard APPs and Integrate Them into Your Workflow.
Among other pearls, Dr. Melton will encourage attendees to assess as best they can an APP’s commitment to rheumatology. It can be frustrating to train an APP for several months if they then decide to leave for a better-paying specialty, such as orthopedics. Questions like, “What made you interested in rheumatology?” can help dig deeper into a candidate’s rheumatology commitment. Obtaining a one-year commitment from a new APP hire can also help ensure a longer-term relationship, she says.
Dr. Melton also will highlight the value of providing adequate training and matching an APP’s responsibility to their level of training. This can help avoid headaches for both physicians and APPs.
Vanessa Caceres is a medical writer in Bradenton, Fla.
